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Purchasing identity in the Atlantic world : Massachusetts merchants, 1670-1780

"Americans have always had a love-hate relationship with possessions. Early Americans suspected luxuries as a corrupting force that would lead to an aristocracy. In Purchasing Identity in the Atlantic World, Phyllis Whitman Hunter demonstrates how elite Americans not only became infatuated with their belongings, but also avidly pursued consumption to shape their world and proclaim their success."--Jacket.

Introduction: "Emporium for the World" --
Ch. 1. Piety and Profit in Puritan Boston --
Ch. 2. Much Commerce and Many Cultures --
Ch. 3. Puritans, the Polite, and the Impolite --
Ch. 4. The Work of Gentility in the Provinces --
Ch. 5. A Return to Homespun.

Abstract:

"Americans have always had a love-hate relationship with possessions. Early Americans suspected luxuries as a corrupting force that would lead to an aristocracy. In Purchasing Identity in the Atlantic World, Phyllis Whitman Hunter demonstrates how elite Americans not only became infatuated with their belongings, but also avidly pursued consumption to shape their world and proclaim their success."--Jacket.